July 2009

I have not heard to much about why this happened but, we are down one small bomber which went into the Okanagan Lake out by Fintry where the Terrace Mtn Fire is. Click on the image above to go to the story or go to Castanet for this and other info. The Food Bank in Kelowna was flooded yesterday during the heavy rain and $1000’s were lost in food, clothing, and kids crafts. The weather outlook for the next week or so. Hot, hot, hot!

I love the idea of this way to travel in the city. Think about the reduction in vehicle emissions, reduction in traffic jams, the exercise, the fun. The Shweeb is being developed in New Zealand and you can cruise at 60kmh. Check out their site and express you interest in their project. I know the oil companies will not like this idea and the government will have to come up with a plan to tax it since it won’t burn fuel. Imagine the possibilities in a city such as Vancouver or other cities.

We were lucky no more major fires have broke out in our area but it will be very hot here for the next week. Please no more lightning and keep the wind down.

This seems all too familiar. Yes, I have been here. Eleven years ago but, just another piece of the same pie. My question, why was this situation not dealt with when it should have been. Oh yes I know, the priority was in the urban/rural area where the people pay the bucks and not in the Valley of the Sun or Fintry where most of them grow dope anyways. And yes eleven years ago they kept people evacuated in order to wrongly and unethically go into their homes and bust them for growing something which puts off better smoke than the fires do. Are we there again? Unfortunately we are. All I can say is, I feel for you living where I used to live. If I knew how I could help you I would.

It has been a very busy week but 6,000 people were able to go home tonight. They may have to leave again if the wind changes but they are home. Highway 97 is open (one lane) again, which is good since I need to get over to, Pick a Part, tomorrow to pick up a muffler ( a muffler with hole may start a fire). Speaking of starting fires, all three fires in West Kelowna were started by human stupidity. Mother Nature had zip to do with this. It was the employees at Dumb Inc. who seem to be gaining more and more. Their new recruits who are in the, “Rob from the people who are evacuated from their homes and may lose it in a wildfire Dept.” These employees have a place for my boot!

A photo from Mission area of downtown Kelowna looking across Okanagan Lake to West Kelowna

While the Glenrosa and Rose Valley fires in West Kelowna have not grown overnight, the Terrace Mountain fire has. It is now covering 875 hectares. As far as I have heard all three fires are suspected to have been started by human stupidity. I took this picture early this morning after taking Jodi to a farm she volunteers at. It tells me why my throat is sore this morning. The last time I breathed in this much smoke was 2003. I have included some other sites below which also have some pictures of the fire.

This photo was taken this evening and the smoke in Kelowna is somewhat less. Earlier today looking down the block was not as clear as usual because of the thickness of the smoke. I believe persons with allergies and older people will have a hard time breathing. I feel like I have sat around a campfire all day breathing in the smoke. The last time I felt this was in 2003. 60% chance of rain on Thursday. Please no wind.

Well we lots of planes overhead today (like one every 1-2 minutes) and assumed it was just planes from out of town taking off from the airport. Well we were wrong, a fire just broke out at 10:00am about a mile from our home in Mission Creek Park. It seems they have it under control. It is not 35 degrees today as it may have been since the sun can not shine through all the smoke in the air. I will try to keep up to date on changes in the Burning Central Okanagan.